---------------------

------After the scolding from Melody/Next morning------

The tales of my adventures consisting of freeing a former male sex-slave went over well with Melody. Hm, if you call getting chewed out (oops not the best choice of words), ‘rebuked’ because I didn’t bring her along.

Maybe my outlook on women is completely wrong compared to Earth. I’m not one of those guys who thinks women should stay in a house and cook me my ‘sammich’ all day. But when your girlfriend wants to shank people because she hasn’t had the opportunity yet, then it’s a little bit of a shock. That’s what she was mad about. I feel a smidge of pity for her foes. And also respect for anyone who has eaten her food then criticized it and lived to tell the tale.

Anyways after having to sleep on the floor as my punishment I didn’t get much sleep. So when the sun came up and breakfast was ready I almost plowed down any obstacles in my way to the diner in the common room. Obstacles being a sleepy headed Drake, almost Tara, and the door to my room. R.I.P. ‘Woody’ the door.

Now that I have my food I go ahead and sit in the corner table like yesterday night. Only, suddenly a revelation and sense of foreboding hits me! As I’m eating scrambled eggs I think about Talonbane’s daughter! What if she is about to become scrambled eggs! A chef at a restaurant could be making a special omelet for a rich family! Guh, if she becomes a ‘#1 special with bacon on the side’ I’m going to be killed over and over again in my dreams. Not just that, I won’t have a pet bird…

Tara my saint comes to the rescue,

“Jared do you not like eggs? The cook probably put a good amount of time into making it, but I think he will understand if you want something else. You need to eat so you’ll stay healthy, we can’t have you run on an empty stomach.” [Tara]

Such simple words but when it comes from her mouth and her weird accent that shouldn’t belong on this world-British by the way-it calms me down. I will smite any who try to take her virginity! Only I can do such thi—um I’m getting off track here hehe. One more thing about her:

The reason I know she is a virgin is because in our clan, women growing up as ninja keep their purity until training is finished. Around 18. Once they are finished with training, they can either keep being a ninja or do different things among the clan. Staying a ninja they have to remain pure so they can stay focused on their job. When choosing the non-ninja route they don’t have to remain pure.

For example, Melody used to be a ninja (apparently pretty good, my bed’s headboard and my shirt can testify to that) then she was chosen to be the lady for when the clan head is supposed to return. Thus the reason she rushed in ‘head’ first—er, rushed in excitedly. My mind is eternally in the gutter. Can’t help it. I’ve tried.

Also we have talked and it did start out to her as a task that she was prepared for, for a long time, but after a while she admitted that she does have feelings for me. Whether or not that’s true, only time will tell.

So if I were to compare the two women together, Tara would be like the younger version of Sister Mary from Christian religion, and Melody would be the seductive succubus incarnate. Although I say Sister Mary, it’s wise not to forget that she can also be a ruthless, agile, cold-natured ninja ready to pounce on any target ordered to eliminate.

But that just shatters my outlook on her caring heart, so I’ll ignore that version of her. As for Melody, thankfully she doesn’t have a whip—as far as I have seen—and also doesn’t see me as a victim for her to suck the life out of. Ahem, as far I have seen of course. Hell, if I had to die making love to her, it wouldn’t be a bad way to go.

Ally is a complicated case among the three women. Melody sees her as a pet. It’s not that Melody is a bitch, rather, the culture in this world is deeply ingrained with the concept of slavery and indentured servants. I treat Ally as an equal and I think she still has that ‘Elf pride’ as I call it.

Sort of like the Japanese. When they were put in internment camps in the U.S. they still held their pride of being Japanese. Of course I wasn’t there to see it, however books have been written about it. Similarly, the pride/honor of the Samurai during the Warring States period.

Well enough of the minor history lesson, our group of 5 has finished our meal and are heading out of the city to follow my mental EggGPS. If only I could learn how to do this and offer it as a service somehow. I wonder if there is a patent in this world, Gramps never told me. Maybe it could be put to all kind of locations and it would point you there.

But if I do that and it points the way directly to the destination and tells you to go through a dangerous place and you die then that would suck. Oh, maybe I could put someone’s voice in there to tell you to go around it. Hm, who’s voice though? Melody’s would be too distracting, so probably Tara’s soothing voice hehe. Oh shit Melody is glaring at me. How does she know? Ah, it’s probably the grin on my face.

Based on the direction EggGPS is telling me to go and also looking at the map I have, it should be in the major city named Rennal. Luckily there is a road leading from the village to the city. That means it will take us about 5 days with horses and probably no monster encounters.

--------5 days later after using EggGPS--------

Rennal compared to the village is like comparing a hotel bathroom to a portable toilet at a construction site. Once again I have the childish look of amazement plastered on my face. Furthermore I haven’t seen a single stray dog piss yet!

The interesting fact about this city is the layout. It’s got 2 sections, one being the nobility, and the other for adventurers.

Now you may ask where do the middle-class/low-class residents live? In the adventurers side there are inns for long term or permanent stay. It’s similar to apartments on Earth.

You are considered nobility if you can get a standalone house. Mainly because the standalone houses are more like mansions. Personally as far as how the creators of this city sectioned off the two social castes is probably one of the reasons the two don’t get along. No chance to mingle with each other.

Anyways my egg senses are telling me that she is in the nobility section. Ugh, and even worse, it’s saying on the farthest side of the section where the Duke lives in his overblown glorified mansion. Just as I’m about to walk over and inspect the place a piece of information from a bystander reaches my ears,

“Did you hear about the huge survival tournament the duke is going to host?” [Gossiping bystander 1]

“Ah yeah you mean the one where the prize is some kind of weird red egg?” [Gossiping bystander 2]

“I wonder what is inside of it. Oooh if I enter and win I’m totally going to cook it. Sounds yummy.” [Gossiping bystander 1]

“Hell yeah I’m thinking like 3 servings of scrambled eggs or omelets. Maybe even use it to help make a cake?” [Hungry bystander]

“No! I must save Megg!” [Me] That sounds like a good name…need to hurry and register for this shit.

“Hey where do I sign up for this?” [Me]

The three of them stop their conversation and inspect our group before saying,

“You can register over there at that huge tent that has guards with sign-up sheets. Good luck and let me know if you’re going to have a feast with the egg if you win.”

After listening to their evil plans for Megg I tell the others to follow me to the tent where we can register. The tent is quite large. Its colored green and about half of the size of a circus tent. There are people packed inside with several tables that has attendants taking names down.

Surprisingly the competitors aren’t newbies. There are a lot of veterans mixed in, such as warriors with weapons that look like they have been through several battles. Also the posture of and gait of those people shows they are professionals. It’s like there are no openings even when they are casually walking around.

The others in our group notices it too. Drake looks like he wants to go wild and slaughter all of them on my command.

Good thing I’m the one giving the commands and not the stab-happy ninja. Even Tara looks like she wants to test her blade. Scary. Can’t say I don’t blame them, must be because our clan has been in hiding and any chance to let loose on some warriors and mages is satisfying. Except for Ally, she looks claustrophobic and is holding her nose. Yeah it smells pretty bad compared to her usual forest biome. Sweaty warriors.

I walk up to one of the many attendants while noticing that many of the contestants are in groups of 5. It seems like this might be some kind of battle royale.

The attendant is a human woman who looks to be in her mid-twenties with brown hair and brown eyes. She smiles as we approach,

“Hello, my name is Reina, you must be here for the competition?” [Reina]

Oh she’s pretty cute, and kind of innocent too, even though her posture says otherwi-Ow! Dammit Melody caught where I was looking. Anyways,

“Yep, the 5 of us are entering.” [Me]

She looks over us then asks each of us our names. We oblige then she speaks to us,

“Okay this competition as you have probably observed is split into teams of 5. In your case you already have 5 so you don’t need a substitution. There are 100 teams, meaning 500 people in total. The area the Duke has sectioned off is next to our city on the mountain range Trinity. Our city and surrounding town’s best mages have set up a magical array that has barriers that will tell you if you are out of bounds.

If you are out of bounds for more than 30 seconds you will be disqualified. So try not to go near the barrier because it’s your own fault if you get attacked and thrown out of the barrier for too long. Each of you will wear a badge that shows your team name inscribed on it. This is for identification purposes and because it interacts with the barrier to let you know if you have gone outside of the barrier.

The badge will stick to your skin on your neck like a tattoo—don’t worry it doesn’t hurt—because it doesn’t impede your movement speed and such. Also we are not responsible for injury or death. You can always give up by all 5 members (or remaining members) agreeing to surrender. Then the badge will teleport you back to our headquarters which will be set up at the base of one of the mountains.

The goal of the competition is to wipe out every team and be the last team standing after the end of the 30 days given. When there are 50 teams left, you will all be teleported closer together. This is to keep it going faster since the mountain range is large. When there are 25 teams left you will be teleported again. And again at 10.

Many mages are doing their best to cast these mass teleportation spells and keep the barrier up so don’t sit and dawdle. Try to thin the numbers before the 30 days are over. Others will do the same. The prize for the winning team is the mysterious red egg owned by Duke Valent. Furthermore, even if you don’t end up being the last one standing, there are still prizes for the teams who have eliminated the most other teams. Obviously they don’t get something as good as the main winner.

That’s the summary of the competition and it will start in 3 days, to give everyone time to prepare necessary items, weapons, and survival gear.

One last thing, what do you want your team name to be?” [Reina]

Everyone looks deep in thought. Hmmm, time to use my awesome naming skills:

“Green Eggs and Ham” [Me]

“No.” [Melody]

“Meggalodon” [Drake] Ah, I see what you did there. Wait, they used to have those too?!

“Hell yea sounds aweso-“ [Me]

“Nope” [Melody] Ugh, since when does she call the shots?

“Eggs and Bacon” [Me]

“Still no.” [Melody]

“Deviled Eggs” [Drake]

“…” [Everyone]

“Agreed!” [Everyone]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh btw if you find some kind of loophole or part where it looks like the rules are flawed or doesn't really make sense please comment below :D

Yeah and I know this sounds so much like Hunger Games, but honestly I'm not trying to do that. Plus any type of battle royale survival setting is bound to sound like Hunger Games. So sorry if you felt like I copyrighted or something. Wasn't my intention to.